WeWork Cos. plans to raise as much as $4 billion (Dh14.6 billion) in debt in the next few months ahead of its initial public offering, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The funds will help the company, which rents office space and desks to workers around the world, drive growth until it’s profitable, WSJ reported. The debt offering could raise as much as $10 billion in the next few years, the newspaper said.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and possibly other banks are working on the deal, the newspaper reported, adding that WeWork Chief Executive Adam Neumann met Jamie Dimon and David Solomon in recent weeks.

The New York-based company has been in talks with banks on a debt sale since earlier this year. In May, Bloomberg News reported that it’s arranging a $2.75 billion credit line ahead of a planned IPO, according to people with knowledge of the matter. WeWork said in April it had filed paperwork confidentially with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for an IPO.

WeWork, founded in 2010 and last valued at $47 billion, according to CB Insights, pioneered the concept of shared work spaces, expanding to more than 500 office locations in 100 cities. With trendy work areas, colourful phone booth-like conversation areas and lively community hangouts, the start-up has reshaped office practices around the world.

Still, WeWork has yet to prove it can make money, with losses more than doubling last year to $1.93 billion, while revenue also more than doubled to $1.82 billion.

Dominic McMullan, a WeWork spokesman, declined to comment on the report.